Hydrogen is required as an input for a variety of processes and various technologies. Examples of such processes and technologies include hydrogenation, ammonia synthesis and fuel cells.
Water is the most prevalent substance from which hydrogen may be obtained. Methane steam reforming (MSR), however, is the only prior art technology economically operable and commercially available for obtaining hydrogen from water. The MSR process, which requires a source of methane or natural gas, is a costly and complex one. For MSR, thermal control at high temperatures (such as above 800° C.) and catalyst deactivation are both technically difficult areas. A need therefore exists for an economical system and method whereby hydrogen may be obtained from water using a process other than the MSR process.
Electrochemical extraction of energy from hydrogen via fuel cells is an especially clean and efficient method of providing power. As a result, fuel cell development is very active for various applications. An example of such an application is powering automobiles. Governmental requirements regarding the maximum allowable harmful fuel emissions for vehicles in the United States are forcing vehicle manufacturers to design vehicles that run on fuels other than gasoline and diesel fuel or consider alternative types of engines, such as electric engines. This has led to the design of vehicles that use fuel cells that run on pure hydrogen. When pure hydrogen is mixed with oxygen via a fuel cell in the vehicle, water, heat and electricity are produced, ideally without emitting other chemicals that are harmful to the air or the environment.
In addition, a fuel cell system running on hydrogen can be compact, lightweight and has no major moving parts. Because fuel cells have no moving parts, in ideal conditions they can achieve a very high reliability with minimal downtime. As a result, fuel cells are also very useful as power sources in remote locations, such as spacecraft, remote weather stations, large parks, rural locations and in certain military applications.
Current fuel cell technology requires high purity hydrogen for successful operation. The government has directed that fuel cell vehicles rely on stationary hydrogen dispensing stations for fueling, yet there is no established infrastructure for hydrogen distribution. Furthermore, many technical difficulties have been encountered during attempts to develop an on-board hydrogen generation system for other mobile applications. As a result, a need exists for a simple, lightweight and compact hydrogen generation system and process that may be used either on-board a mobile vehicle or in a stationary facility.